Lloyd Kahn is the editor-in-chiefof Shelter Publications, an independent California publisher.Shelter Publications specializes in books on buildingand architecture,as well as health and fitness.Lloyds latest book is Tiny Homes on the Move: Wheels and Water.For more info, see: www.shelterpub.comLloyd Kahn is the editor-in-chief of Shelter Publications, an independent California publisher. Shelter Publications specializes in books on building and architecture, as well as health and fitness. Lloyd’s latest book is Builders of the Pacific Coast. For more info, see: www.shelterpub.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lloydkahn

"Gary He of Inside Images today tweeted his photoshopped interpretation of an epic CNN gaffe. His 'shoop visually references the historic 1948 photo of just-elected President Harry Truman displaying before a crowd a newspaper that incorrectly reported his defeat.
The image went viral after inclusion in this New York Daily News article on how CNN and Fox totally blew it, by incorrectly reporting that the health care mandate championed by Obama was voted unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, when the opposite was in fact the case. More on Poynter. (thanks, Miles O'Brien!)"By Xeni Jardin at 3:31 pm Thursday, Jun 28 on BoingBoing

I am about to set up an integrated system of TV, TiVo, a computer, and speakers. Has anyone done this recently?
I want to be able to watch TV (via Direct TV), stream, use NetFlix, play YouTube and Vimeo videos, play my Sirius radio, and have all the functions of a computer. It seems that this is a better route than getting a "smart TV, which, as I understand, has certain built-in functions, but not the breadth of choices available on a true computer.
Seems to me also, that the storage capacity of a computer is a good thing to have (vs. smart TV). I'm not sure about Roku, Apple TV, or other boxes, but it seems to me again, that a computer would be more robust. Advice?

Bug from Heritage Salvage in Petaluma takes a break from his nation-wide mission of recycling in America's small towns to visit two NorCal coastal residents.
"Published on Jun 26, 2012
This time Bug talks Coast Miwoks with George Snyder and then bops on down the coast to talk Alternative Building with…Lloyd Kahn!"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2vcvzJRqvY

"TV personality Dick Clark and his wife are selling their Malibu retreat on Pacific View Road that will look familiar to fans of the Flinstones cartoon sitcom. The cavernous one bedroom, two bath home sits on a 23 acres lot with unparalleled 360 degree breathtaking ocean, mountain and city views influenced by changing light.

"…There you’ll see what makes the RX100 such a revelation: insane amounts of detail and vivid, true colors. Hand-held twilight photos. A burst mode that can fire 10 frames a second. And macro shots — supercloseup — that will curl whatever’s left of your hair. A typical S.L.R. can’t get any closer than 10 inches from the subject with its included lens; the RX100 can nail focus only 2 inches away.…"Sounds like the first camera to rival (surpass?) Canon Powershot S100.
Article by David Pogue, NY Times June 27, 2012: http://shltr.net/sonysrx100

"…Pioneers like Portland, Seattle and San Francisco have become so good at waste diversion that it is becoming harder to get much better. San Francisco reuses a whopping 78 percent of what enters its waste stream, compared with the national average of 34 percent.
As some press toward a goal of “zero waste,” the challenge is asking residents to conquer what officials call “the ick factor” of organic waste, endure fewer garbage pickups, become more sophisticated sorters and live without things like plastic grocery bags and polystyrene containers for their takeout food.
At the same time, the cities are exploring novel solutions for recycling challenging materials that take up relatively far more space at the dump than they did before recycling took hold. Those targets include construction debris from small haulers, complex plastics, polystyrene foam and the smelliest of the smelly: cat litter, dog poop and diapers.…"Article by William Yardley, NY Times,June 27, 2012: http://shltr.net/petkrap

Last night I called my son Will. Turns out he was in the van with members of his band, Sambadá, en route to three gigs in the Pacific Northwest. Sambadá bills itself as an "Afro Samba Funk Dance" band. They have infectious energy and get everyone dancing. They are playing:
- Tonight, Thursday, June 28 at the Someday Lounge in Portland, Oregon
– Friday, the 29th at Barboza in Seattle, 10:30 PM
- Saturday, the 30th at the Salem Worldbeat Festival, Riverfront Park Amphitheater in Salem, Oregon, 1 PM
If you happen to attend, go up and say hello to Will; tell him his dad sent you.

Here's an example of why I'd recommend following the Tiny House Blog if you're interested in the subject, posted today. Note: this is on a very small lot.

"Going up for sale in August 2012: Tiny Cabin on a River, one hour West of Portland, Oregon.

It’s on a coastal river in Oregon that has a Salmon Run!
It’s located smack in the coastal range, in a landscape dominated by wildness.
There is a forest maintained hiking trail within walking distance.
There is a wild river located a few miles away (river with no road along it -very rare in the US).
There is a mountain lake located a few miles away with a healthy fish population.

A pretty complete list of connecting dome struts, both metal and wood. At left is the system developed by Bill Woods of Dyna Domes in Phoenix, Arizona in the mid-'60s.
Funny, they omitted what I think was the best wooden dome hub system, the pipe-section hubs and stainless steel strap tightened with a banding device. This was developed by Fletcher Pence in the Virgin Islands in the early '60s and was strong and elegant. I saw it used by architect Jeffery Lindsay in L. A. and we used this system at Pacific High School for 10 wood-framed domes in the early '70s. http://shltr.net/domeconnexSent us by Kevin Kelly

On Sunday I took my little (12') aluminum boat (15 hp 2-stroke Evinrude) up to Tomales Bay to go clamming. A couple of near disasters: Backing up with a trailer has always been a problem for me; you have to turn the truck in an opposite direction from from your instincts to angle the trailer correctly. So after much travail and embarrassment (all the other boat launchers did it perfectly), I got my boat trailer down the ramp and boat in water. After parking returned to find 6" of water in the boat. Forgot to put drain plug in. Estúpido numero dos. Bailed it out, headed for clam beds. The bay is beautiful, sandy beaches reachable only via water.

Sign made of license plates on Grandi Building in Pt. Reyes Station

This was my first foray with my clam gun, and I ended up getting 7 horse necks and one Washington. The gun is a piece of 4" PVC pipe with a handle and plunger that pumps mud out and gets you down to the clam without doing a lot of shoveling. This week I'm gonna practice backing up trailer in a parking lot. I'm upping my intake of food from the sea (including seaweed) these days.

Just saw this last night. There a bunch of the reasons to watch this show:
1. Graham Nash's lovely version of Raining in My Heart, including a deft harmonica solo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13ouPkX3IT0 (audio only)
2. Stevie Nicks, still rock n roll queen, doing Not Fade Away
3. Keith Richards short quote. The guy is authentic! Like his autobiography.
4. What a band! Directed by Waddy Wachtel. Jerry Wexler-like musical direction. Strings and tuned-in backup singing.
5. To get an idea of Buddy's body of work; I never put it all together before. The English were so far ahead of us Americans on great American music of the 50s and '60s (and earlier).
Not everything is great, but the preponderance is pretty darn good. Hail rock and roll!

"I came across an original copy of this book in the early 90's teaching art students at college, at an old heads house in North London. She let me make a photocopy of it and I would use it to demonstrate how age-old construction technologies are transcendent and empowering. I lost the copy before emigrating to the US and for the life of me couldn't remember the title, in spite of continually using it as a reference point! So imagine my delight when 20 years later I rediscovered that it's still in print and now I can recommend it to EVERYONE!
Man - Humble apologies for making a copy all those years ago. As I cannot begin to express my gratitude, and the influence it bore, for this WONDERFUL piece of art. You captured the spirit of an age still yet to be realized, and that's a continuous source of inspiration!
Blessings on your house.
Glen"

Wood-lined tunnel leading into the Grand Meadow in the 585-acre Prospect Park, Brooklyn, which was designed in 1865 by Frederick Law Olmsted & Calvert Vaux, and built in 1866-1873. The tunnel makes for a dramatic introduction to the beauty of the park.

Tree-lined street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Imagine what this street would be like without the trees.